What's Next? Orientation!!

Yep, I enrolled and paid! Woot!
So looking at a calendar of events here, http://admissions.rpi.edu/guide/
It appears that I just completed step-2.
In order to start step-3 it appears that I have to register for orientation sleepover. http://admissions.rpi.edu/guide/living.html

And then I’m thinking when I get back home from Orientation, they will send me my personalized access to start selecting dorms and meal plan?

But before that, between Orientation and the access, I would think that I should be able to pick classes because I think I should have to do it with a guidance counselor or someone to give direction to the students.

Any clarification would be appreciated, thanks.

Oh I see, I tried to access the housing in step-3 and even though it says on the front page that this is the next step, it in fact is not the next step, I have to go to Orientation first.

This is what the website says,

  1. Register fore Accepted Student Celebration on April 8, 2017
  2. Pay $500 enrollment
  3. Select your Residence Hall and meal plan
  4. Register for Student Orientation 2017
  5. Complete the four Health Center Requirements.
  6. Submit your Final High School Transcript Request.
  7. Review your Tuition Payment Plan Options.
  8. Review the Mobile Computing Laptop Package for 2017-2018

Step-4 should be before Step-3, they placed them out of order incorrectly.

DS is working through this right now. A day or so after you pay your admissions deposit, they will send the info to set up your RPI email. You need the RPI email to set up housing. I think this should be done and a housing deposit paid ASAP, not after orientation. Did you do your RPI.edu email set up?

I think you will pick classes with an academic advisor at orientation.

Yes, I agree with that order. The one thing I didn’t do is the rpi email that you’re are talking about. I didn’t see anything in the write-up about an rpi email. Do you have a link for that that I can read about it please? Is it possible that by rpi email address they mean the email address that’s your own which you use to receive regular updates from rpi?

I don’t have it since they are sending info to DS but it should be a different, longer RPI number (?) and a link to set up a rpi.edu email account. I’ll sit with DS this weekend to finish this up and make his housing deposit.

@GoRedhead When did you pay your deposit? The email mentioned by @TQfromtheU is detailed at http://admissions.rpi.edu/guide/pin.html. Note the number on the bottom of the webpage to call if you didn’t get your email within 7 days of paying the deposit. If you just paid then you should wait another week.

The email will contain a 16 digit PIN and instructions on how to pick up your rpi student email address which would be (your RCS ID)@rpi.edu. The RCS ID and a new password that you can choose will be the key to all the other steps. There will be plenty of confusing acronyms such as SIS, CAS, RCS ID so I suggest printing out the email and taking careful notes in order to keep track. The email will also have a more accurate timeline (slightly different than what was posted above) and hyperlinks to various portals so do not delete that email.

FYI - There will not be another deposit due after you make your housing request and room assignment is done on a first come first serve basis by enrollment deposit date.

thank you @newjerseydad888
after posting I realized by re-reading the instructions that it actually takes 7-10 days to get the email. I really wish they’d update the order of events as it can be confusing. As a web-admin I happen to know from experience that the least places you post things to keep redundancy down, the more organized you can make things. Having to update multiple locations is what’s messing the people at RPI up. Their website is far bigger than it needs to be, probably many tens of thousands of actual link-pages in all.

Thanks for the tip on the upcoming email with links, yes I keep a spreadsheet on every aspect of my college career, from college choices, visits, my ratings, financial appeal, etc you name it, I’ve been categorizing everything.

Can’t wait to get the dorm selections, hoping my choice is still available. May I ask are you north mid or central nj? I’m north. The reason I ask is there may be opportunities in the future to alternate carpools and such for parents.

@GoRedhead I also have multiple spreadsheets and screenprints of everything for my records. RPI’s website is not the greatest as you have noticed. Is your major CS? I’m also north.

@newjerseydad888 Computer and Systems Engineering is my major. That’s great that your son got Computer Science, from what I understand they have limited the amount of available seats for CS and ME so the bar was set real high this year.